Grayson Perry opens 'rough and tumble' Royal Academy art show

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LONDON (Reuters) - A “Vote Leave” Brexit referendum poster that graffiti artist Banksy has transformed to read “Vote to Love” is among the highlights of the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, which curator Grayson Perry opened to the media on Tuesday.

Dressed in an multicoloured, over-sized onesie decorated with teddy bears, a pair of yellow platform shoes and a tiny orange plastic sombrero perched on his purple wig, Perry called his edition of the annual show a “celebration”.

“I’ve tried to channel the basic spirit of the summer show, which is one of a kind of democratic rough and tumble ... the great and the good - the established artists - have to hang next to Joe Bloggs who does it for a hobby,” the Turner Prize-winning ceramicist told Reuters.

“It’s a festival of art making ... It’s a celebration of all the different kinds of genres.”

The first art work visitors will see is “Symphony for a beloved daughter”, a giant red circle erected like a satellite dish in the courtyard of the grand Palladian mansion that houses the Royal Academy, near London’s Piccadilly Circus.

That is one of the more than 1,300 pieces on display in what the Academy calls the “largest and oldest open-submission art show in the world,” this year in its 250th edition.

Also on display at the show, which runs from June 12 to Aug. 19, are works by David Hockney, Wolfgang Tillmans and Tracey Emin.

Reporting by George Sargent; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Robin Pomeroy